They Were Not Perfect
by mysteriousmissessnape
Summary: 2 bit snapshot into Severus and Hermione's lives as they age. First from Sev's pov, next Hermione's. Slight dunderhead bashing, AU from DH obviously. :) Mild language probs.


**Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long, I haven't really had any muse for my other stories yet to update, but this little plot bunny would not go away. So I sat here for about 3 hours trying to write this and rewrite this. I have no beta, so any mistakes are purely my own, and I would be so ever grateful if you were to point them out to me. Please leave reviews, I really love them.**

 _ **So with this little fic, it's going to be two parts, nothing more, and in a way, it's a snapshot to the life of Hermione and Snape without any real meaning. I hope you guys like it and as always, the characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except for their kids, they belong to me, obvs, and you may see them in the future, who knows? No money to be made here, seriously, I'm broke. Adios kiddies.**_

Severus watched his wife of the last sixty years putter around their small kitchen from the doorway. He grinned wolfishly as she pulled a pan of sweets from the muggle stove she insisted they have. Silently, he glided up behind her, reaching a pale hand under her arm to snatch a cookie away from the ever growing pile. He pulled back sharply when a wooden spoon connected with the protruding knuckles on his hand, (not that he didn't get fed, but the infuriating man refused to gain weight, even in his later years), with a resounding crack. Sullenly he watched, rubbing his injured appendage, as she turned, grey hairs floating about her face, her whiskey honey eyes glaring playfully at him.

"No Severus. They're for the kids."

He smirked at her and she rose the wooden spoon in her hand much like she had brandished her wand in her youth. Looking at her, however, Severus was reminded that she was no longer young, and neither was he. Watching Hermione, he straightened his back and loomed to his full height, not so impressive as it once was, and listened to the bones crack and pop into place.

"Still alive, dear." He grimaced as a flash of hurt appeared and disappeared from her face. He knew that as they aged and the grey appeared in her riotous brown curls, she had feared that he would leave her for no longer being perfect, as if that was completely acceptable after what they had been through and accomplished together. He would begrudgingly admit that she was persistent, even now, and that little had changed but for her outward appearance, but she had been far from perfect.

Even as an eleven year old girl, she was all limbs and hair, facing this new world armed with textbooks and wonder. Even then, Hermione was an outcast, separated by her intelligence, and even then, Severus had admired her. When she walked up through the Great Hall to the sorting hat, she murmured in the ear of some girl about the ceiling, where she had read about in _Hogwarts: A History_. As she progressed, she garnered the friendship of the two dunderheads Potter and Weasley. It was known from the start that she was the brain behind their schemes. And she always managed to save him. Even if it meant illegal activities.

Her year on the run, had slimmed her down significantly, and he remembered seeing her face at the battle, the gaunt skin stretched tight over the bones of her cheeks and nose. That year. Severus knew they had both been tested that year, and every year since their courtship.

The day he proposed, she was far from perfect, her eyes wide and unseeing as she brought their daughter into the world. Sweat matted her hair to her forehead and her grip on his hand had broken bones, but he didn't mind. Holding their daughter who thankfully inherited Hermione's small nose, Severus looked at the panting witch in his bed and simply asked.

"Marry me."

And she had, without hesitation. Their wedding was a mix of wizarding tradition and muggle intricacies. He had worn a black muggle tux, she had worn a crystal blue dress. Against all odds, Arthur Weasley had been his best man, Draco and Potter his other groomsmen. Luna had been Hermione's maid of honour, Ginerva and Nymphadora her other bridesmaids. And while Severus admitted to her that she looked beautiful, she had still been far from perfect.

While she, as a whole, was not perfect, far from it with her incessant chattering and know-it-all attitude that she still retained from school, if a bit tamed, he could admit with reluctance that she had grown on him, and he could stare into her golden amber eyes and understand the woman behind them perfectly. He could admit that their random bouts of lovemaking and hard fucking had led to his important research that she fit against him perfectly, each of his hard planes matching her soft curves. That his hand slid perfectly into the nape of her neck when hugging her to his chest and that their lips fit perfectly together. Severus knew that Hermione was not perfect, and he knew that he did not want her to be.

The tap of her hands against his waist brought him out of the reverie where he resided and he looked down his long crooked nose at the small witch.

"Hello love, have a nice trip down memory lane?" Her voice was soft and demure, not at all like the fiery witch he had married.

"Yes." His tone was imperious and she merely stared at him.

"That stopped working on me years ago, I will not forgo the nickname that I bestowed upon you."

Hermione sniffed and turned away from him, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her petite waist. Somewhere in the lower half of the house, Hermione heard the door open to squealing kids and quickly shouted spells. Turning in his arms and giving him a kiss on the corner of his mouth, she left his embrace and walked into the other room, plate full of cookies and a smile perched happily on her lips. As he stood behind the counter, watching her walk away, he knew that he had made his decision. He had a wife, children, grandchildren and many more on the way. It was all he could ever want. Crossing the threshold to the living room, Severus surveyed the area, much like he had when he was younger and spying to save their lives, what he saw gave him pause. Hermione had a child, Toby, on her lap snitching cookies from the plate and hiding them when he thought no one saw. Serina was on the floor playing with blocks and levitating them to Ana. Eileen and Marcus stood in the back, hanging coats and dropping shoes at the door while Alloces and Tera sat on the couch watching Melody and Minerva. No one had noticed the man standing in the doorway, and he was fine with that, he knew that they loved him, every single one. For once, in his measly life, Severus Tobias Snape could fully and outrightly admit that he was happy.


End file.
